Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[jbkirk]

Yeah, I have found no feed is exactly perfect.
And I also am aware Purina is a sponsor here so I will avoid purina bashing.
One thing I dislike about them is their statement about 'Marigolds, for dark orange yolks' or some such thing, which is rediculous.
It is yet anout food coloring, however natural.
A hen free ranging rarely eats marigolds.
The other factoid is the 40# bag !
How cleverly......

Everyone here concerned with their feed not having everything needed for a hen's perfect health needs to also remember how much nourishment they can find while free ranging !
Like tarp strings (YUMMY!!!) and styrofoam ! (DELISH !!!)
There also the bugs and other crawlies.like Salamanders...frogs, baby snakes and small slugs !
YUM !!!

I do not worry too much about feed, except to buy what I can in the highest amount of vitamins & proteins, unless I have thin shell issues, and that is a calcium & PHOSPHOROUS issue, so I toss oyster shell at them or mix in their feed.
My grandmother & great grandmother both had a big working flock that contained all breeds and sustained their own numbers (from broody hens) and they ran loose all day, had a hen house, and were fed only scratch thrown out for them 2X a day.
other than that, they were on their own to find bugs & other ymmy stuff to eat.
Of course, this was way back before styrofoam was invented !!

We raise sweet meats squash every summer.
Most get between 15-20 pounds, and store well over the winter, and Einstein hacks one open every week or so & distributes a hunk (seeds and all) to each pen.
Helps make dark orange yolks !

Anyone want sweet meats seeds, give me a PM.

That sweet meat squash is a really great idea !!!!

 

[Chickielady]

what kind of tree's?

Last week was a Pluot, a Peacotum, 2 Sweet 16 Apples, 2 Fujis.
Already planted 2 years ago:
2 apricots, 2 pears, 2 peaches, 1 sweet 16 apple, 2 spartan apples.
yesterday I planted 2 cherries a Royal Ann and a Moorpark I think ?
cannot remember, and another Fugi apple.

Anyone have the Yellow 'Winter banana apple ?" Just wondering how they taste, I have seen alot of them bare root for sale.

The Peaches (so far) have been doing the best, they are 'Frost Peach' but maybe have 1 getting a fungal issue, so I stepped up the dormant spray.
The sweet 16 apple is delish !
Have 3 Asian pears, suckered off my dad's tree which has TONS of super awesome asian pears every year....and a school house plum a neighbor gave me, that is rumoured to be delish also.
So, I am done planting trees for this year, and have my herbs & basil & tomatoes all started in the hot frames.

 

[Chickielady]

Incidently, anyone with serious green thumbs MUST make a HOT FRAME to get your maters & squash going before the season.

These are 2 we made, and recall there is pipe heat tape wound around on the bottom, and then 2-4" of sand.
The pipe tape is self regulating, but it does not hurt to wire it to a wafer thermostat, otherwise just buy a pipe wrap tape at the hardware store & carefully add it to the bottom.
NOTE:: When the sun comes out, be ready to crack the window a bit & prop with an appropriate sized rock, to allow cool air in otherwise you can COOK your veg starts !
Several times I have left early in the morning to go somewhere & BAM the sun came out & I fretted all day that my maters would be cooked dead....my Dad has leaf tip burned his Basil this way...gotta be on the ball & better to open the lid early in the cool morning than to leave it closed & have the sun come out !



Any box will work, but best to find a dual paned window, and then build a box to match, back is taller than the front to grab more light............

Typical pipe heat tape:

Does not take alot of tape, we have 2 boxes side by side and ran this long tape around in the first one and then into the second box through a hole connecting the 2 together.
Plants LOVE the warm sand & Basil, catnip and tomatoes will sprout within 2-3 days !
My gal is to get a sliding glass door & make a BIG hot frame so my tomaters can get taller before I have to plant them outdoors.
Outdoors means the freshly composted hoop house which gets pretty warm, day & night due to wonderful compost heat.....

 

[Espresso]

Yeah, I have found no feed is exactly perfect.
And I also am aware Purina is a sponsor here so I will avoid purina bashing.
One thing I dislike about them is their statement about 'Marigolds, for dark orange yolks' or some such thing, which is rediculous.
It is yet anout food coloring, however natural.
A hen free ranging rarely eats marigolds.
The other factoid is the 40# bag !
How cleverly......


Everyone here concerned with their feed not having everything needed for a hen's perfect health needs to also remember how much nourishment they can find while free ranging !
Like tarp strings (YUMMY!!!) and styrofoam ! (DELISH !!!)
There also the bugs and other crawlies.like Salamanders...frogs, baby snakes and small slugs !
YUM !!!

I do not worry too much about feed, except to buy what I can in the highest amount of vitamins & proteins, unless I have thin shell issues, and that is a calcium & PHOSPHOROUS issue, so I toss oyster shell at them or mix in their feed.
My grandmother & great grandmother both had a big working flock that contained all breeds and sustained their own numbers (from broody hens) and they ran loose all day, had a hen house, and were fed only scratch thrown out for them 2X a day.
other than that, they were on their own to find bugs & other ymmy stuff to eat.
Of course, this was way back before styrofoam was invented !!


We raise sweet meats squash every summer.
Most get between 15-20 pounds, and store well over the winter, and Einstein hacks one open every week or so & distributes a hunk (seeds and all) to each pen.
Helps make dark orange yolks !

Anyone want sweet meats seeds, give me a PM.

I didn't pick up Purina for a few reasons.... I really would have preferred to stick with S&P but sometimes you have to admit you are poor. Lol. So Nutrena it was. At least it is organic. It has the marigold extract too. But since my ducks are free ranging my entire backyard... Feed is supplemental. They forage and get kitchen scraps.

 

[OverEggstended]

Well hello !
There is a few here on this thread who raise Hammies...cannot remember who just now.
Carolyn probably remembers....or ask HallerLake, she has Spitzhaubens now, but may know who has Hammies.
I am toying with the idea of getting some white faced black spainish, just for egg production...but at the same time I am trying to restrain  myself from being overcome with hatchititus as I usually am this time of year !

I would love half Hammies and some Penedesencas... but can only find roos for sale. Major bummer. Oh well, somethi.g to lust for NEXT year... Right? Lol

 

[ThisishowIroll]

Quote:
I haven't had the opportunity to cook with them myself, but I work in the culinary field and am a food nerd, so I know what the traditional Asian applications for silkies are. They are used almost exclusively as a soup/stewing/braising bird and are very rarely roasted. Here's an article with a little more information on it. If you're so inclined, Iron Chef America actually had it as a secret ingredient for an entire episode, so if you can find that one it will give you a mountain of ideas! http://www.odditycentral.com/foods/the-dark-side-of-cooking-naturally-black-chicken.html

 

[ThisishowIroll]

Quote:
I haven't had the opportunity to cook with them myself, but I work in the culinary field and am a food nerd, so I know what the traditional Asian applications for silkies are. They are used almost exclusively as a soup/stewing/braising bird and are very rarely roasted. Here's an article with a little more information on it. If you're so inclined, Iron Chef America actually had it as a secret ingredient for an entire episode, so if you can find that one it will give you a mountain of ideas! http://www.odditycentral.com/foods/the-dark-side-of-cooking-naturally-black-chicken.html

 

[Hinotori]

 

I can attest that silkies can move very fast. They also seem smarter than my other birds. I was chasing one hen with a net yesterday and she ran around the run and stopped dead on the opposite side of me. I had to call the dogs to help herd her. They like to fake me out on which direction they will go. They also have this annoying habit of launching themselves into the air with as much flapping as they can and land running in a random direction.

I also have the issue of mine are aggressive with large fowl and WILL beat them up any chance they think they can get away with it. They actually go looking for trouble. It's like and evil horde of fluff bent on taking over everything. Pumpkin Khan encourages his flock to action. The only thing that stops them are other silkies. I had to separate out the younger boys. No girls with them so they don't fight with each other. The only large fowl who is safe is the young ameraucana boy was the only LF to hatch in a bunch of eggs. He was raised with the silkies and thinks that he is one. 

Your descriptions here have me laughing so hard !
I can just see the evil hordes of fluff !
I have had a few silkies and they honestly just sat.
They sat so much I worried they'd starve and could not see their food & water !

The blue silkies I had before were very docile. Some of the older LF hens thought these were going to be just as easy to take stuff from. They had a very rude awakening. These silkies will run them off from their own treats instead of the other way around.

 

[Amberjem]

yeas my tomatoeas are astarted cucumber, billion different pepperas,, dill, asome prettyas, chiveas, onionas, garlic, dill, alpine astraqwberrieas, artichokeas bok choy...astill need to do another aset of aseedas..got diastracted planting asome prettieas to attract pollinatoras and asuch......and clearing ivy off the aslope,..infact noticed my aseedlingas coming in

 

[Chickielady]

I didn't pick up Purina for a few reasons.... I really would have preferred to stick with S&P but sometimes you have to admit you are poor. Lol. So Nutrena it was. At least it is organic. It has the marigold extract too. But since my ducks are free ranging my entire backyard... Feed is supplemental. They forage and get kitchen scraps.

I love how much ducks graze !
They are fantastic lawn mowers !
Rarely do mine eat feed, but I do offer them a couple handfuls of the pellets and scratch mixed in...as long as I can keep the chickens out of it !